Linux standards lab sets up shop in China

A new Linux certification lab has been set up in China to ensure local Linux distributions observe common industry standards.

According to US-based Free Standards Group (FSG), a non-profit organisation which administers the Linux Standards Base (LSB), the new lab is the first of such centres outside the US and will be maintained by the FSG and China Electronics Standardization Institute (Cesi).

Amanda McPherson, marketing director of the FSG, said the Chinese government had approached the group about opening a lab in the country.

She said: "They wanted to adopt our standard as the national standard for China, and be able to test and certify against it. Local certification authorities are needed since they translate the materials into the local language and can work better with local software providers."

Authorisation for the use and certification of the LSB standard by the Chinese government, is an important step for maintaining a unified Linux standard throughout the world, McPherson said. It will also open up a huge market for Linux distributions such as those from Novell and Red Hat, as well as hardware vendors such as Intel. More importantly, the centre will extend the use of Linux by eliminating fragmentation, she added.

One of the biggest challenges in the growth of Linux is disintegration, which causes software written for one Linux distribution not to work in another. The aim of the LSB is to develop and promote a set of binary standards that will enable software applications to run on any conforming Linux operating system, according to the FSG.

There are currently dozens of Linux distributions in China. Some of the major distributions include CS2C Linux, Novell Suse, Red Flag Linux, Red Hat and Sun Wah Linux - all of which are LSB compliant, said Jim Zemlin, FSG's executive director. He said: "The use of Linux in China would have been greatly hindered had a non-standardised version of the operating system taken hold there."

Last October, major players in the software industry, including Adobe Systems, IBM, Intel, HP, Novell, RealNetworks and Red Hat, pledged their support for the LSB desktop standard which standardises key components of Linux desktop software including libraries, application runtime and install time. According to the FSG's McPherson, the LSB desktop standard - to be launched later this year - will be part of the certification services available at the new Chinese lab.

Han Jun, deputy director of China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) science and technology department, said in a statement: "Technology and standards are key to the Chinese IT industry.

"A well-supported, international standard for Linux is a necessary foundation of Linux's continued success. By participating in the LSB, MII expects that the Chinese IT industry will improve competitive advantage through technology innovation and international collaboration, and will expand global market opportunities."

The Chinese government is often regarded as a key supporter of Linux, where government agencies using Linux include the National Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Statistics and the National Labor Unit. Local government bodies that have deployed Linux include the municipal government of the Chinese capital, Beijing, which is using 2,000 Linux desktops.

The Chinese government also plans to put more than 140,000 Linux PCs in primary and secondary schools across the Jiangsu province - thought to be the largest Linux desktop rollout in Asia.

Aaron Tan writes for ZDNet Asia